Zusammenfassung
Überqualifizierung bezeichnet die Situation, in der Personen mehr Kenntnisse, Erfahrungen und Qualifikationen haben als für ihre Stelle benötigt werden. In den Industrieländern sind ca. 15 bis 20 % der Erwerbstätigen für ihre Stellen überqualifiziert. Es handelt sich somit um ein Phänomen, das Teil des organisationalen Alltags geworden ist. Im vorliegenden Beitrag gehen wir der Frage nach, welche Rolle Überqualifizierung für die Karriere- und Laufbahnentwicklung von Betroffenen spielt. Zuerst fassen wir die wesentlichen einstellungs-, befindens- und verhaltensbezogenen Korrelate von Überqualifizierung zusammen; danach zeigen wir auf, welche Zusammenhänge sich im Hinblick auf karrierebezogene Variablen ergeben. Basierend auf den teils konträren Befunden entwickeln wir ein theoretisches Rahmenmodell. In diesem Modell postulieren wir, dass proaktives Verhalten von Überqualifizierten eine Signalwirkung gegenüber organisationalen Entscheidungsträgern haben kann, wodurch karriereförderliche Entwicklungen angestoßen werden können. Abschließend diskutieren wir praktische Implikationen, die sich aus den berichteten Befunden und dem theoretischen Modell ergeben.
Abstract
Overqualification occurs when a person has a surplus of knowledge, experience, and qualifications relative to the job he or she holds. Approximately 15 to 20% of employees in industrialized countries are overqualified. Thus, overqualification has become an integral part of organizational reality. The present paper deals with overqualification in the context of career development. We first summarize attitudinal, well-being, and behavioral outcomes of overqualification. Afterwards, we will provide an overview of the relationships between overqualification and career-related outcomes. Based on the partly contrary findings, we develop a conceptual model. In particular, we postulate that overqualified individuals’ proactive behavior might be a signal for organizational decision makers, which in turn triggers career-enhancing changes and developments. Finally, we discuss practical implications of the empirical findings and the proposed model.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Literatur
Alba-Ramirez, A. (1993). Mismatch in the Spanish labor market: overeducation. Journal of Human Resources, 28, 259–278. https://doi.org/10.2307/146203.
Arthur, M. B., Khapova, S. N., & Wilderom, C. P. M. (2005). Career success in a boundaryless career world. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 26, 177–202. https://doi.org/10.1002/job.290.
Bangerter, A., Roulin, N., & König, C. J. (2012). Personnel selection as a signaling game. Journal of Applied Psychology, 97, 719–738. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0026078.
Barthauer, L., Estel, V., Dubbel, A., Kauffeld, S., & Spurk, D. (2016). Woran erkenne ich eine erfolgreiche Laufbahn? Ein qualitativer Ansatz zur Definition von Laufbahnerfolg bei Wissenschaftlern. Beiträge zur Hochschulforschung, 38, 42–63.
Battu, H., Belfield, C. R., & Sloane, P. J. (1999). Overeducation among graduates: a cohort view. Education Economics, 7, 21–38. https://doi.org/10.1080/09645299900000002.
Büchel, F. (2001). Overqualification: Reasons, measurement issues and typological affinity to unemployment. In P. Descy & M. Tessaring (Hrsg.), Training in Europe: Second report on vocational training research in Europe 2000 (background report) (Band 2, S. 453–560). Luxembourg: Office for Official Publications of the European Communities.
Büchel, F., & Mertens, A. (2004). Overeducation, undereducation, and the theory of career mobility. Applied Economics, 36, 803–816. https://doi.org/10.1080/0003684042000229532.
Crosby, F. (1984). Relative deprivation in organizational settings. In B. M. Staw & L. L. Cummings (Hrsg.), Research in organizational behavior (Bd. 6, S. 51–93). Greenwich: JAI Press.
Dekker, R., de Grip, A., & Heijke, H. (2002). The effects of training and overeducation on career mobility in a segmented labour market. International Journal of Manpower, 23, 106–125. https://doi.org/10.1108/01437720210428379.
Van Dyne, L., & LePine, J. A. (1998). Helping and voice extra-role behaviors: evidence of construct and predictive validity. Academy of Management Journal, 41, 108–119. https://doi.org/10.2307/256902.
Edwards, J. R. (1996). An examination of competing versions of the person-environment fit approach to stress. Academy of Management Journal, 39, 292–339. https://doi.org/10.2307/256782.
Edwards, J. R., Caplan, R. D., & Van Harrison, R. (1998). Person-environment fit theory: conceptual foundations, empirical evidence, and directions for future research. In C. L. Cooper (Hrsg.), Theories of organization stress. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Erdogan, B., & Bauer, T. N. (2009). Perceived overqualification and its outcomes: the moderating role of empowerment. Journal of Applied Psychology, 94, 557–565. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0013528.
Erdogan, B., Bauer, T. N., Peiró, J. M., & Truxillo, D. M. (2011). Overqualified employees: making the best of a potentially bad situation for individuals and organizations. Industrial and Organizational Psychology, 4, 215–232. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1754-9434.2011.01330.x.
Grant, A. M., & Ashford, S. J. (2008). The dynamics of proactivity at work. Research in Organizational Behavior, 28, 3–34. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.riob.2008.04.002.
Harari, M. B., Manapragada, A., & Viswesvaran, C. (2017). Who thinks they’re a big fish in a small pond and why does it matter? A meta-analysis of perceived overqualification. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 102, 28–47. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jvb.2017.06.002.
Van Harrison, R. (1978). Person-environment fit and job stress. In C. L. Cooper & R. Payne (Hrsg.), Stress at work (S. 175–205). New York: Wiley.
Heslin, P. A. (2005). Conceptualizing and evaluating career success. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 26, 113–136. https://doi.org/10.1002/job.270.
Hung, C.-Y. (2008). Overeducation and undereducation in Taiwan. Journal of Asian Economics, 19, 125–137. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.asieco.2008.02.001.
Kristof-Brown, A. L., Zimmerman, R. D., & Johnson, E. C. (2005). Consequences of individuals’ fit at work: a meta-analysis of person-job, person-organization, person-group, and person-supervisor fit. Personnel Psychology, 58, 281–342. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1744-6570.2005.00672.x.
Kulkarni, M., Lengnick-Hall, M. L., & Martinez, P. G. (2015). Overqualification, mismatched qualification, and hiring decisions: perceptions of employers. Personnel Review, 44, 529–549. https://doi.org/10.1108/Pr-11-2013-0204.
Leana, C., Appelbaum, E., & Shevchuk, I. (2009). Work process and quality of care in early childhood education: the role of job crafting. Academy of Management Journal, 52, 1169–1192. https://doi.org/10.5465/AMJ.2009.47084651.
Lee, C. H. (2005). A study of underemployment among self-initiated expatriates. Journal of World Business, 40, 172–187. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jwb.2005.02.005
Liu, S., & Wang, M. (2012). Perceived overqualification: a review and recommendations for research and practice. In P. L. Perrewé, J. R. B. Halbesleben & C. C. Rosen (Hrsg.), The role of the economic crisis on occupational stress and wellbeing. Research in occupational stress and well-being, (Bd. 10, S. 1–42). Bingley: Emerald.
Luksyte, A., & Spitzmüller, C. (2016). When are overqualified employees creative? It depends on contextual factors. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 37, 635–653. https://doi.org/10.1002/job.2054.
Mavromaras, K., McGuinness, S., O’Leary, N., Sloane, P., & Fok, Y. K. (2010). The problem of overskilling in Australia and Britain. Manchester School, 78, 219–241. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9957.2009.02136.x.
Maynard, D. C., Joseph, T. A., & Maynard, A. M. (2006). Underemployment, job attitudes, and turnover intentions. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 27, 509–536. https://doi.org/10.1002/Job.389.
Maynard, D. C., Taylor, E. B., & Hakel, M. D. (2009). Applicant overqualification: perceptions, predictions, and policies of hiring managers. In O. T. Chen (Hrsg.), Organizational behavior and dynamics (S. 13–38). Hauppauge: Nova Science.
McGuinness, S. (2006). Overeducation in the labour market. Journal of Economic Surveys, 20, 387–418. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.0950-0804.2006.00284.x.
McKee-Ryan, F. M., & Harvey, J. (2011). „I have a job, but … “: a review of underemployment. Journal of Management, 37, 962–996. https://doi.org/10.1177/0149206311398134.
Morgeson, F. P., & Humphrey, S. E. (2006). The Work Design Questionnaire (WDQ): developing and validating a comprehensive measure for assessing job design and the nature of work. Journal of Applied Psychology, 91, 1321–1339. https://doi.org/10.1037/0021-9010.91.6.1321.
Nabi, G. R. (2003). Graduate employment and underemployment: opportunity for skill use and career experiences amongst recent business graduates. Education + Training, 45, 371–382. https://doi.org/10.1108/00400910310499947.
Ng, T. W. H., Eby, L. T., Sorensen, K. L., & Feldman, D. C. (2005). Predictors of objective and subjective career success: a meta-analysis. Personnel Psychology, 58, 367–408. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1744-6570.2005.00515.x.
Parker, S. K. (1998). Enhancing role breadth self-efficacy: the roles of job enrichment and other organizational interventions. Journal of Applied Psychology, 83, 835–852. https://doi.org/10.1037/0021-9010.83.6.835.
Parker, S. K., & Collins, C. G. (2010). Taking stock: integrating and differentiating multiple proactive behaviors. Journal of Management, 36, 633–662. https://doi.org/10.1177/0149206308321554.
Quintini, G. (2011). Over-qualified or under-skilled: a review of existing literature. Paris: OECD Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1787/5kg58j9d7b6d-en.
Randstad (Hrsg.). (2012). Skills mismatches and finding the right talent (incl. quarterly mobility, confidence, and job satisfaction). http://www.randstad.com/press-room/research-reports. Zugegriffen: 30.11.2017
Rubb, S. (2006). Educational mismatches and earnings: extensions of occupational mobility theory and evidence of human capital depreciation. Education Economics, 14, 135–154. https://doi.org/10.1080/09645290600622905.
Russell, Z. A., Ferris, G. R., Thompson, K. W., & Sikora, D. M. (2016). Overqualified human resources, career development experiences, and work outcomes: leveraging an underutilized resource with political skill. Human Resource Management Review, 26, 125–135. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.hrmr.2015.09.008.
Seibert, S. E., Kraimer, M. L., & Crant, J. M. (2001). What do proactive people do? A longitudinal model linking proactive personality and career success. Personnel Psychology, 54, 845–874. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1744-6570.2001.tb00234.x.
Sicherman, N. (1991). Overeducation in the labor market. Journal of Labor Economics, 9, 101–122. https://doi.org/10.1086/298261.
Thomas, J. P., Whitman, D. S., & Viswesvaran, C. (2010). Employee proactivity in organizations: a comparative meta-analysis of emergent proactive constructs. Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology, 83, 275–300. https://doi.org/10.1348/096317910x502359.
Verbruggen, M., van Emmerik, H., Van Gils, A., Meng, C., & de Grip, A. (2015). Does early-career underemployment impact future career success? A path dependency perspective. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 90, 101–110. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jvb.2015.08.002.
Verhaest, D., & Omey, E. (2006). The impact of overeducation and its measurement. Social Indicators Research, 77, 419–448. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11205-005-4276-6.
Wrzesniewski, A., & Dutton, J. E. (2001). Crafting a job: revisioning employees as active crafters of their work. Academy of Management Review, 26, 179–201. https://doi.org/10.2307/259118.
Wu, C. H., Luksyte, A., & Parker, S. K. (2015). Overqualification and subjective well-being at work: the moderating role of job autonomy and culture. Social Indicators Research, 121, 917–937. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11205-014-0662-2.
Wu, C. H., Tian, A. W., Luksyte, A., & Spitzmueller, C. (2017). On the association between perceived overqualification and adaptive behavior. Personnel Review, 46, 339–354. https://doi.org/10.1108/Pr-05-2015-0134.
Zhang, M. J., Law, K. S., & Lin, B. (2016). You think you are big fish in a small pond? Perceived overqualification, goal orientations, and proactivity at work. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 37, 61–84. https://doi.org/10.1002/job.2024.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
Für eine Taxonomie der (Aus‑)Bildungsabschlüsse in Deutschland (Beispiele: obligatorische Schulzeit/keine besondere Ausbildung; abgeschlossene Berufsausbildung; Fachhochschul- oder Universitätsabschluss) siehe Büchel (2001).
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Debus, M.E., Körner, B. Überqualifizierung im Kontext organisationaler Karrieren. Gr Interakt Org 49, 34–41 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11612-018-0400-3
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11612-018-0400-3